The first openly gay Episcopal bishop and his partner of 20 years have been united in a private civil union.
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(Photo: AP Images / Episcopal Dioceses of New Hampshire)In this photo released by the Episcopal Dioceses of New Hampshire, Mark Andrew, left, and Bishop V. Gene Robinson are shown during their private civil union ceremony performed by Ronna Wise in Concord, N.H., Saturday June 7, 2008. The New Hampshire legislature and governor made civil unions legal in New Hampshire beginning Jan. 1, 2008.
The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson was legally joined to Mark Andrew, his partner of 20 years, in a civil ceremony Saturday, the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire announced.
Civil unions became legal in New Hampshire this year.
The union was performed five years to the day after New Hampshire Episcopalians elected him as their bishop.
The civil and a following religious service of thanksgiving were both held at St. Paul's Church in Concord.
Robinson had made public his intention to join his partner, but had kept the date secret out of concern about security. Spokesman Mike Barwell said the ceremony was intentionally private.
"Initially, the idea was to have it in a public building to make clear it was a public civil ceremony and a private thanksgiving ceremony," Barwell said Sunday.
The plan changed out of respect for next month's worldwide Anglican church conference in England, called the Lambeth Conference, and out of concern for the couple's security.
Robinson had announced in March that he would have no official role in that conference, saying restrictions that organizers wanted to place on his involvement had caused him "considerable pain."
Robinson was told last year that he could not fully participate in the once-a-decade gathering in England as the world Anglican Communion has been on the brink of schism over his 2003 election. Conservative Anglicans worldwide have denounced his consecration and called for repentance.
The civil union was performed by Ronna Wise, a longtime friend and justice of the peace. About 120 family and close friends attended.
Robinson and Andrew decided to enter the union before Robinson's trip to ensure they have legal protections New Hampshire's civil union law gives gay couples. The law bestows all the rights and responsibilities of marriage, which includes inheritance and other rights enjoyed by married couples.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Thankyou for these amazing posts. It has been a while since I logged on, but I send my greetings and God's blessings to each and every one of you. Thanks for your thoughts and opinions. They are to be respected. I pray for each and every one of you and have faith in the true God to lead you into the real Truth.
Amen, Robbie. xxxxxxxx
irenaeus, I took the challenge and you can find it at the same-sex marriage rush site, good to see you back and looking forward to getting back to our discussion, I have really been enjoying it and it has truly challenged me to dig deeper in His Word. Be blessed as you serve Him, believer
biggie,
Is this a set up? BTW, there is a difference between someone who takes the Bible literally and one who takes it literalistically.
Hi Fellow Believers!
Who here says every word in the Bible is true? Who here endorses 100% of the Bible, every statement as the wishes of God! If in the Bible, I can find an "order" of God, and if you do NOT 100% execute it, I consider you literalists to have LOST.
Who here takes my challenge? Is there a soul here in this room that agrees 100% with every phrase and statement in the Bible? And will there be NOTHING I can find thats a commandment in the Bible that you not 100% completely agree with?
This ought to be interesting. Any takers?
believer,
"but I still hate cleaning out the cat poop box!"
LOL
ireneaus, I not only appreciate your honesty as a husband I also empathize with you totally and I'll be honest there are times when I lose sight of why I need to do things simply out of love for my wife and there are times when I take the things she does for me for granted, but when God gets me refocused on what's important not only do I desire to do the right thing but it sure makes our marriage and relationship a whole lot better, but I still hate cleaning out the cat poop box!
ireneaus, I didn't scroll enough to see some of your responses to me, but on the reference to Matthew 19:17 I believe you need to keep it in the context of the encounter He was having with the rich young ruler. Because the conclusion was that even though he had kept all the commands he allowed his riches to get between him and God. At that point in his life he loved his wealth more than he loved God even though he was keeping all the commands of the Law and because at that point in his life he was unwilling to let go of his love for his wealth he walked away from Christ. So I believe Jesus was showing not only this young man but all of us that salvation is not about works, but rather salvation is a matter of the heart and once we accept Him as our Savior and Lord our motivation to do good works will be a result of our desire to please God and show Him how much we love and worship Him.
ireneaus, I think you just answered your own question in your respose to Prophet, you said good works done for the wrong motive would be rejected. So the question would be what does God's Word say is the only right motive for doing good works? Jesus said that if you love Me, you'll keep/obey my commands, would you not agree that the doing of good works would be just that? That being the case then the only right motive for us doing good works is to show God that we love Him. Romans 12:1 tells us that the most logical response for a person who is a child of God to the saving work of Christ in their life is to daily present themselves as a living sacrifice to God which is our spiritual worship, the desire of our heart. Both the words of Christ and Paul speak to those of us who have already come to know Christ as Savior and Lord, they are a result of our salvation not a requirment for our salvation. Because if they were then we would not be obeying Christ out of love alone but at best also if not only out of obligation. I believe the same would be true if we say one can lose their salvation their obedience would not be out of love for Christ alone but at best also if not only out of obligation in order to stay saved.
Prophet,
"Yes, and Jesus Himself said there would be those who did good works in his name that would be cast into hell. So what's the verdict? "
But he also said that those who have done good would be welcomed into the kingdom of His Father. So what's the verdict?... as I have been saying all along, by faith are our works made pleasing and worthy of his acceptance. Through faith, our works are viewed through the 'eyes of grace'; i.e., works performed under the advocacy of God's grace. Works performed with a view of obligating God to reward us for them as if God is somehow indebted to us places us outside the system of grace and places us under the system of law where our works will be judged under the strict edicts of the law. That's the difference, for without faith, it is impossible to please God.
ire,
Yes, and Jesus Himself said there would be those who did good works in his name that would be cast into hell. So what's the verdict?
believer,
“The same is true in our relationship with Christ, He says if we LOVE Him we'll keep His commands, not if you really want to get saved you'll keep My commands.”
But Christ did say if you really want to get saved you'll keep My commands:
"But if you want to enter into life, keep the Commandments."(Matthew 19:17)
believer,
Oops,… you are correct, my 7:55 am message should have been addressed to Prophet. Either way, I accept your apology although I don’t know that it was necessary. BTW, your response at 7:57am was probably one of your best ones yet. But I would have to say that although you are correct that any particular act of kindness (such as giving flowers) is not required by obligation, there are many things (acts, works, behaviors) that are required because one has obligated himself through the marriage covenant. So while specifically giving flowers is not a requirement, on the whole of my married life, if I did not do various acts of kindness towards her, my marriage would not be very healthy, and in fact, may eventually suffer divorce. And among the various acts of kindness, there are specific things that are required. For example, I am obligated to remain faithful to her; that’s a work of obedience to the marriage covenant. Adultery, pornography, inappropriate relationships, unchaste entertainment, etc are contrary to that work of obedience to her and my marriage covenant. And while I am currently on a business trip, when I return, I cannot expect a reward for remaining faithful to her as if I earned it, right?… I’m sure my wife would be grateful, but I should simply say in the spirit of Luke 17:10 “I am but your unworthy husband. I have only done what was my duty to do.” However, on the whole, I will be rewarded for my faithful conduct through a stronger and healthier marriage.
Prophet,
You are correct that there are many, for example, who give to the poor, and for them it is merely a humanitarian act. So your point is well taken; however, with regard to spiritual works and physical works of servitude, by overlap I mean that they can often be the same thing. Giving alms to the poor can be both a spiritual work (e.g., love and concern for neighbor) and a physical work of servitude. As noted before concerning Cornelius, he was not yet saved, for he had not even heard or accepted the gospel; yet, his spiritual and physical works of servitude ascended to heaven as pleasing and acceptable to God.
ire,
There is no overlap of spiritual works and physical works. You can do works of servitude and yet not have the fruits of the spirit. BUT...you cannot truly have the fruits of the spirit and not do works of service. The fruits of the spirit will compell you to works of service, but works of service will not compel you to the fruit of the spirit.
robbie, thanks for helping me to refocus and not lose sight of what this is all about, be blessed as you serve Him, believer